Mental Health, Therapy & Wellbeing
Including Learning Beyond the Classroom
Led by our Therapy Lead and underpinned by the SEEDS Therapeutic Model — an integrated service bringing together mental health and emotional wellbeing support, targeted therapeutic interventions, staff consultation and purposeful learning beyond the classroom.
Mental health, emotional wellbeing and readiness to learn are closely connected.
At New Seeds Education, we recognise that a learner cannot succeed academically until they feel safe, regulated and understood. Our integrated service brings together mental health and emotional wellbeing support, targeted therapeutic interventions, staff consultation and purposeful learning beyond the classroom.
Support is personalised around each learner's needs, EHCP outcomes, strengths, aspirations and agreed placement arrangements. It may be delivered through direct therapeutic work, small-group programmes, strategies embedded across the college day, specialist partnerships or separately commissioned clinical input.
Support for the whole young person
Our provision meets young people who are carrying weight beyond the academic. We name what they may be experiencing, and we work purposefully with them on what will help.
Young people we support may experience
- Anxiety and emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA/EBSNA)
- Low mood and reduced motivation
- Trauma-related barriers to learning
- Emotional dysregulation
- Low self-esteem and confidence
- Difficulty developing trusting relationships
- Social anxiety and communication needs
- Challenges managing transitions and uncertainty
Support may focus on
- Recognising and communicating emotions
- Understanding anxiety and personal triggers
- Developing regulation and coping strategies
- Strengthening confidence and self-worth
- Building resilience
- Supporting healthy relationships
- Restoring engagement with education
- Preparing for change and transition
- Knowing when and how to seek further help
Assessed. Personalised. Coordinated.
Depending on assessed need, support may include the following. Each service is clearly labelled by how it is delivered so families and commissioners know exactly what sits with us, what is embedded through staff practice, what comes through partners and what is separately commissioned.
CBT-informed strategies and interventions
Delivered in-houseIndividual therapeutic wellbeing sessions
Delivered in-houseEmotional literacy and regulation programmes
Embedded through staff practiceSocial communication interventions
Embedded through staff practiceTrauma-informed and attachment-aware support
Embedded through staff practiceSensory and Occupational Therapy-informed strategies
Delivered through a partnerSpeech and Language Therapy strategies
Delivered through a partnerCreative and expressive therapeutic activities
Embedded through staff practiceReflective support around relationships, behaviour and transitions
Delivered in-houseLiaison with families, schools and external professionals
Delivered in-houseMental health and therapeutic development do not only happen in a therapy room.
Some learners communicate, regulate and engage more successfully through practical, physical, outdoor and nature-based experiences. The SEEDS model recognises movement, outdoor learning and hands-on pathways as legitimate routes for processing, regulation and development.
Opportunities may include
These experiences can support
- Reduced anxiety and sensory overload
- Improved mood and emotional regulation
- Confidence and self-esteem
- Trusting relationships
- Communication and teamwork
- Responsibility and independence
- Resilience and perseverance
- Renewed engagement with learning
Practical and vocational learning connects with confidence, emotional regulation, sensory integration, identity, teamwork and perseverance — the same threads our SEEDS model develops inside the classroom.
Clinical rigour woven through everyday education.
Our Therapy Lead — Olivia Isra'el, BABCP-accredited CBT Psychotherapist and Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner — provides professional leadership across mental health, therapeutic practice and emotional wellbeing at New Seeds Education.
“Therapy inside a college is only effective when it is embedded in the daily rhythm of the learner's week — not bolted on as a separate hour once a fortnight.”
Therapy Lead responsibilities
- ✓Helping assess learners' therapeutic and mental health needs
- ✓Contributing to individual support and placement planning
- ✓Delivering or coordinating appropriate interventions
- ✓Advising staff on psychologically informed strategies
- ✓Supporting reflective practice and case discussion
- ✓Working with families and external professionals
- ✓Monitoring the impact of interventions
- ✓Identifying when external clinical or statutory services are required
Important — Scope of our service
New Seeds Education provides therapeutic and mental-health-informed educational support. We work alongside families, GPs, CAMHS and other health professionals where appropriate. Our service does not replace emergency, psychiatric or statutory mental health services. Where risk, complexity or clinical need exceeds our scope, we advise on, facilitate and support access to appropriate external services without delay.